Laid to Rest
by Candyland
Summary: Goku meets someone from his past in a strange setting...and makes a startling discovery about his younger son. Guess the ending if you can...
1. Laid to Rest

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AN: My long-awaited (or not) attempt at a Goku-meets-Bardock story. I really couldn't think of a way to bring Bardock back to life, so I twisted it a little bit. If you want to know what I mean, read on. And if I have to say I don't own DBZ one more time…

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Laid to Rest

"Daddy!" a tiny voice squealed as something landed on Goku's stomach.

"Wha' Wha' happened?" Goku sat up and blinked owlishly, having been rudely dragged from a particularly pleasant sleep. In the faint light from the stars shining in through the window, he could barely make out the outline of a small figure sitting on his stomach. "Goten? What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," the seven-year-old tugged on the front of Goku's shirt to accent his words. "Gohan has a really big test tomorrow and said nobody'd better wake him up. I think he said something about torture. Can I sleep with you?"

Goku sighed. "All right, climb in. Just don't wake me up again, okay?"

"Yeah!" Goten chirped happily as he clambored over his father and into the bed. There was plenty of space, too. When Bulma had to go out of town on business, ChiChi had decided to accompany her, so the three Saiyan guys were on their own for five days. It had been nothing less than interesting, espeically when it came to food. "Goodnight, Daddy!"

"G'night," Goku answered, dropping right back into slumber.

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"Huh?" Goku opened his eyes and looked around. The last thing he remembered was Goten crawling into bed with him. By all accounts, he should have been in his bedroom. He didn't recognize his surroundings at all. Or rather, he couldn't see his surroundings at all, due to a heavy fog that rolled in around him. It was so thick he could actually hold it. But it was keeping him from seeing anything.

Instead he used his mind, reaching out to try and sense anyone—or anything—that might have been present nearby. Surprisingly, he picked up a very familiar ki a short distance away.

Holding his hands out in front of him to keep himself from ramming into anything, he stumbled through the mist, following his senses towards the energy signature. Suddenly, the fog—well, ended was the best word he could come up with. There was a definite line where the fog ended. Now he was standing in what appeared to be a thick forest. It was dark, yet he was having no trouble seeing.

A form moved out of the trees; it was the owner of the ki he'd sensed.

Vegeta.

"Vegeta!" Goku called, thankful to see someone familiar. "Where are we? Is this Dreamland?"

The Saiyan Prince shook his head. "No, Kakarott. This is Dream_time_. There is a difference."

"Why are we here?" Goku looked around in confusion.

"My purpose here is to tell you where to go. Follow me," Vegeta turned and walked into the trees.

Goku hesitated for only a second before jogging to catch up. They wandered through the forest until suddenly Vegeta stopped and turned back to face him.

"There," he pointed to an opening between two trees. Beyond that opening Goku could see a small, well-lit clearing. "Through there. There's someone waiting for you." His mission accomplished, Vegeta turned and disappeared into the shadows.

More then a little nervous and quite a bit apprehensive, Goku stepped between the trees into a round clearing. True to what Vegeta had said, someone else was already standing there; the person's back was to Goku. The first thing Goku noticed was the person's clothing—Saiyan armor. That usually meant trouble. The second thing he noticed was that his hairstyle was on the other person's head. How odd.

"Umm…" Goku's muscles tensed and prepared to react to any sudden attacks or anything. He wasn't sure what to expect at that point. "Excuse me?"

A dry chuckle from the person. A rich baritone voice answered. "Well, it looks like you found me. I was wondering if this would ever happen, Kakarott."

Goku couldn't conceal his surprise. "Excuse me, but—" his words were lost when the other figure turned around. Goku's jaw disconnected itself from his skull and fell off his face. He was staring at…himself?!?

No, not himself, but someone who looked remarkably like him. His second look proved that there were minor differences. This man was darker somehow, and several scars decorated the side of his face. In addition, this man's face, though it was almost identical to Goku's, was different. Older…harder…

But his expression changed when he saw Goku. It changed first into surprise, then confusion, then softened into something strangely akin to fondness.

"How long has it been since I last saw you?" the man said amiably, folding his arms across his chest in what Goku took to be a typical Saiyan stance. "You were just a baby, sent on your first mission. Sent to Earth, if I recall." He paused and his eyes became distant. "That was just before that tyrant Freiza turned on us, destroyed our world."

Goku almost felt guilty about interrupting, but he had to. "Sir…who are you?"

The man looked at Goku curiously, then smiled. "So it is true what Radditz said. You really don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?" by now, Goku was completely baffled.

"What happened to you after you landed on Earth?" the stranger leaned against a tree in a very Vegeta-esque pose.

For some reason, Goku felt compelled to answer. "Well…I was taken in by an old man named Gohan after I landed. To make a long story very short, I ended up falling over a cliff and hitting my head really hard. I still have the scar from it. When I woke up, I couldn't remember anything, and according to the man who raised me—the man I knew as my grandfather—my personality completely reversed as well. So I grew up on Earth, never knowing what I was. I didn't know until Radditz showed up after all those years. And let me tell you, that was the biggest shock I ever got!"

The stranger smiled again. "So that's what happened to you. Strange how those things work out. And now you have a son, if Radditz told me correctly?"

"Actually, two sons now. Gohan's eighteen and Goten's seven," Goku answered, then paused. Why was he telling this stranger all this? "Wait a second. You obviously know me, but I have no idea who you are. What's your name?"

"Bardock," the man didn't even hesitate.

That name struck a chord in Goku's memory, and after a few seconds he had it. "When I was on Namek, I faced off against Frieza, and he said I looked a lot like a Saiyan named Bardock."

"Ah, so that did come to pass," Bardock looked strangely amused. "I had that vision right before I died. I saw you facing Frieza," he paused to give Goku a measuring look. "I take it that you won?"

"Yeah, I did. Believe it or not, Frieza managed to get himself cut in half by his own attack."

Bardock threw his head back and laughed at that. "You must be kidding!"

"No joke," Goku started to laugh too. "But you still haven't told me who you are."

"Can't you guess, Kakarott?" Bardock tilted his head to one side.

Goku stared at him in bewilderment, trying to make some sense of everything that had been said. Somehow, he knew. It just had to be…there was no one else it could be…but how…

When Goku didn't say anything, Bardock simply smiled and stepped forward. "I think you're getting it. Your face says it all." He walked over, standing an arms length away. For the first time during this conversation, they were completely eye-to-eye. He held up something small and golden, dangling from a chain. "This was your mother's. I never found her after our planet was destroyed, so it's all I have left of her. I want you to take it."

Any doubts that might have been flitting through Goku's mind were killed with those four words. He stared at the man, and whispered a single word. "Father?"

Bardock nodded with a soft smile.

Unable to say more, Goku looked at the small object. It was a gold necklace in the shape of a six-pointed star with a sun engraved into the center. He looked at the tiny piece of jewelry, and still could not find any words. Fortunately, Bardock had a few more.

"I think she would want you to have this," he commented softly. "She died on Vegeta with the rest. Radditz got more from her then you did."

"I…" Goku was embarassed that words still failed him. "I can't take that, but…thank you."

It was then that he felt a strange pulling sensation, like someone had grabbed the back of his gi and started tugging. Bardock glanced back over his shoulder, the necklace still dangling from his hand.

"I must go now," he said with a sigh as he looked back at his son and dropped the necklace into the palm of his free hand.

"But—" Goku choked out. "You—you just got here!"

"I know. But my time here was to be brief from the start. Now we must part ways. I will return to the Otherworld, and you will return to your family, to your wife and sons. Actually, Radditz is waiting for me to come back. He thought I was crazy to set up this meeting in the first place."

Goku managed a weak smile, though in reality he felt close to tears. There were so many questions he needed to ask, so many answers he would have given almost anything for.

As if he could read his thoughts, Bardock spoke again. "When you wake up, all will be laid to rest. I promise you that."

The tugging sensation grew stronger. Bardock glanced back over his shoulder again, then turned to face his son for the last time. "It's time."

"Wait, Father!" Goku cried, feeling that strange word come out of his mouth. "I have one question that I need an answer to!"

Bardock looked at him expectantly.

"Are you proud of me?"

Father looked at son with a sad smile. "Kakarott, you are more than I ever thought was possible in a son. I am very proud of you." Then he was gone.

Alone in the clearing Goku stared at the spot where Bardock—his father—had been standing only seconds ago. As the fog rolled in once again, Goku gave himself over to whatever force was pulling him away from—what had Vegeta called it? Dreamtime?—and back to what he could only assume was reality.

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Goku sat up in bed, gasping for air. Beside him, Goten, who was still sleeping, was saying something in his sleep.

"…proud of you…" the child breathed, then withdrew back to the sanctity of his own dreams.

Startled, Goku stared at his younger son. What was that all about?

Slowly, he reached down and touched his son's hair, at the same time extending a mental hand to check for any other presences around Goten. He was beyond relieved to find nothing except Goten's ki, far lower then normal on account of the child being asleep.

He was just about to shrug the whole thing off as a dream brought on by exhaustion or something he ate or some such thing when something sparkling on the bedspread caught his eye. He leaned down and saw in the subtle light from the stars that it was something long and very, very thin. And it was coming out of Goten's clenched fist. He flicked on a light beside the bed and turned back to the mysterious object.

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What the… Goku ever so gently pried his son's fingers open…and gasped. _But…how…_

Gripped in Goten's tiny fist was a gold pendant in the shape of a star with six points. Engraved in the six-sided center from whence the arms of the star sprouted was the shape of a sun. The star was imprinted into the flesh of Goten's palm, as though the child had had the thing squeezed in his hand for a very long time. Like it was a much-beloved treasure…

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When you wake up, all will be laid to rest, his father's words replayed in his mind.

Goku sat there for a long time, just looking at his son. Finally, he reached over and turned the light off, and crawled back under the blanket, positioning himself so that Goten's head was resting comfortably against his shoulder. The child sighed happily in his sleep and snuggled up to his father.

As his eyes fell closed and he was lost to sleep once again, a hole that had been in his heart for as long as he could remember was suddenly gone.

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AN: Okay, more then a little off the wall. I hope everyone understood what point I was trying to make with this story. If you don't, well…say so. Like I said, I twisted it a little bit. I like twisted fics, even if I'm not the best at writing them. Oh well. I hope you liked my little take on Goku and Bardock's reunion. Review if you like, I do appreciate it. Thanks a bundle!!!!!


	2. PREQUEL Goten's Dream

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AN: This is more of a prequel to "Laid to Rest" than a sequel. It makes sense if you've read the original story. This just kinda came to me while I was sitting in Western Civ, trying desperately not to die laughing at how stupid some of those older movies can be…but that's another story. I don't own DBZ, just the premise of this story.

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Goten's Dream

Two suns shone brightly overhead, warming the air around him. He strolled along, calmly, confidently, greeting passing acquaintances with a small wave of the hand or a slight nod of the head.

Suddenly, the idyllic day in front of him spasmed and vanished in a blinding flash of white light. He wasn't afraid, though; he knew what was coming. On the heels of the light came images…many, many images…terrible images…

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The blast was coming straight at him. He knew instinctively, after years of experience with these kinds of things, that a ki attack that strong would not only destroy him but annihilate the planet behind him as well. And he was powerless to stop it.

As he was swept away by the force of the blast, the scene disappeared in that same white light, this time replaced by the face of a child. This child was young with a round, determined face, wide, dark eyes, and what appeared to be a severe case of bedhead. Then, before his eyes, the child changed into a man with the same hair and eyes, and the same look of utter determination.

His eyes widened. "Ka…ka…rott?"

Then the image changed again, spinning outwards, and the man in the vision was standing on a grassy plain in front of a river, facing off against a hideous purple and white creature with a long tail sitting in an odd floating chair-like device.

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My…son…lives…on… That was the last thought to make it through his pain-ridded mind. As the vision faded, he smiled.

"Kakarott!" he yelled as the agony became too much and the darkness took him. He fell…fell…

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With a scream, Goten sat straight up in his bed. Pillows and blankets went flying as the child panicked and attempted to jump out of bed. But he was quite unsuccessful; his legs became tangled in the bedclothes due to his efforts, and he made a rather quick and clumsy—and painful—descent to the floor.

Groaning and rubbing his now-aching head, Goten sat up as his dream came rushing back to him. It wasn't the first time he'd had dreams like this, but this had been the most vivid yet—and it was definitely the first time he'd ever experienced that last part, with the death. It confused him to no end. _Who was that guy, and why did he look so much like me and Dad? And what happened to him exactly?_

Remembrance of the man's thoughts hit him then, and the visions as well. _Why did that guy see Dad?_ A sudden thought seized him—what if something had happened to his father?

Panicked once again, Goten pulled free of the tangled blankets and climbed to his feet so he could run down the hall to his parents' bedroom, where he flung open the door and paused while he peered into the darkness. He could barely make out the form of his father lying on the bed, and he could easily hear his father's slow, steady breathing. But that wasn't enough for the chibi; he had to be absolutely certain that his Dad was okay.

"Daddy!" a tiny voice squealed as something landed on Goku's stomach.

"Wha' Wha' happened?" Goku sat up and blinked owlishly, having been rudely dragged from a particularly pleasant sleep. In the faint light from the stars shining in through the window, he could barely make out the outline of a small figure sitting on his stomach. "Goten? What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," the seven-year-old tugged on the front of Goku's shirt to accent his words. "Gohan has a really big test tomorrow and said nobody'd better wake him up. I think he said something about torture. Can I sleep with you?"

Goku sighed. "All right, climb in. Just don't wake me up again, okay?"

"Yeah!" Goten chirped happily as he clambered over his father and into the bed. There was plenty of space, too. When Bulma had to go out of town on business, ChiChi had decided to accompany her, so the three Saiyan guys were on their own for five days. It had been nothing less than interesting, especially when it came to food. "Goodnight, Daddy!"

"G'night," Goku answered, dropping right back into slumber.

Goten sighed happily. His dad was okay, and now he could get back to sleep. It was just a dream after all. Everything was all right.

But it had felt so real. He could still feel the warmth of the sun on his arms and the burn of the ki blast hitting him. And the whole thing had a hazy sort of realism to it, like a long-forgotten memory that he had just pulled out of the back of his mind.

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Oh well, the chibi finally decided to just shrug it off. He yawned and went back to sleep.

AN: Make sense?


	3. Two Faces, But One

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AN: I was asked to continue this story if I could, and it's been rough, but I finally managed to put a little something together for y'all. BTW, does anyone know what the plural of "y'all" is? I found out. It's "all y'all!" Haha. Okay, on with the chapter. I hope all y'all like it! I don't own DBZ. Just this little tiny concept which has probably been lost forever in the annals of ff.net. Oh well.

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Two Faces, But One

Goku sat at the Son's dining room table. His stomach growled noisily, but this was one of the few times in his life that he ignored the call of his appetite. His attention was very much taken elsewhere.

He was focusing on a small necklace. The chain was wrapped around his index finger, so the pendant was dangling, free to spin and twirl as it would. It was a pretty necklace: a gold star, with the image of a sun engraved in the center from whence the points sprouted. Not too fancy, but not what a person would call plain, either. As it swung back and forth, spinning as it went, it caught the light and sparkled almost with a life all its own. For a brief second, the light almost seemed to come from within the necklace itself, rather than from the lightbulbs overhead.

It was a mystery to Goku. He had removed this small piece of jewelry from his youngest son's hand one night after a strange dream had caused him to wake up in bed. The strangeness stemmed from the fact that the necklace had been in his dream. So when he had awakened and found it clutched in Goten's fist, he was naturally both curious and confused as to how it got there. And so far, every possible answer that popped into his mind seemed more outlandish than the last.

At this point, he was ready to believe just about anything if it would explain what had happened!

A sound at the door drew his attention, and he quickly dropped the necklace into his free hand to hide it. Then he turned and smiled at the newcomer. "Morning, kiddo."

Goten yawned and rubbed his eyes as he walked across the room and climbed into his chair at the table. "Morning, Daddy. What's for breakfast?"

"I don't know," Goku replied. "Haven't really thought about it."

Goten looked absolutely horrified. "How can you not think about breakfast?"

"I have other things on my mind," the Saiyan said, feeling the arms of the star piercing into the palm of his hand. "What do you want to eat?"

"Hmm…" Goten thought for a moment. "Do we have pancakes?"

"You really like your pancakes, don't—" Goku started to ask, but he stopped short as he turned to bestow his trademark grin on his son. Because for all-too-brief of an instant, the face he saw there wasn't his son's, but the face of someone else.

The hair remained the same. The eyes were the same color, but somehow seemed darker and harder, and looked angrily from beneath what looked like a red sweatband. His skin was darker, sun and wind burned, with a few long scars crisscrossing along his cheek. The corners of his mouth were turned downwards into a frown that was totally uncharacteristic for Goten.

It was a face Goku had seen once, and that had been the dream he'd had right before he'd discovered the necklace. It was the face of someone long dead. So why in the name of the seven mad gods was he seeing that face where his younger son's should be?

"WHOA!" Goku jumped out of his seat, knocking the chair over in the process. He stumbled back a few steps and just stared at Goten.

Goten stared back—his normal, innocent eyes. "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

Goku blinked once, then again. Nothing happened. The face was gone, and Goten was back. It was all normal again. "Huh? Oh…nothing…I just thought I saw something. Yeah…that's all."

He was graced with his son's 'grown-ups are weird' look. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

"So…you wanted pancakes?" Goku asked, trying to keep his voice normal.

"Yeah!" Goten squealed, apparently forgetting all about the strange thing that had happened a mere moment before. Now his mind was entirely on food.

"Breakfast?" Gohan came into the kitchen in a manner similar to his brother's: yawning, stretching, and rubbing the last bits of sleep from his eyes. "Want me to make it? I'm no chef, but I think I'm less likely to set the kitchen on fire."

"It was only that one time!" Goku protested, earning a laugh from both of his sons.

"Maybe big brother should cook the pancakes," Goten chirped. "Make them like Mommy's, and don't cook them too long. They taste funny when they get burned." He wrinkled his nose to emphasize his point, and Gohan chuckled.

"All right. We have three orders of not-burned, just-like-Mom-makes-them pancakes?" the teenager asked, digging in the cupboard for a pan.

While Gohan went about breakfast, Goku opened his hand and let the necklace dangle from his finger again, just as he had been doing before his son's came in. He studied it carefully, hoping that maybe it would make its secret known to him. But nothing came.

"Daddy, what is that?" Goten asked; he stood up in his chair and leaned forward, bracing his weight against the table, to get a better look. "It's pretty!"

"I know," Goku said softly, not taking his eyes off the pendant.

"Hey, Dad…" Goten asked hesitantly. "It's a star, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there a sun in the middle?"

Goku nearly choked. "Yes, there is…"

"Weird…" Goten muttered.

"What?"

"I feel like I've seen that before. It looks kinda familiar, ya know?"

"What do you mean?"

"It feels like I should know what that is. It feels like it's important or something."

Goku turned and looked at his son. For a second time, there was a brief glimpse of that other face—the hard-bitten Saiyan warrior who had called himself Bardock. Goku's father, who he had only met in a bizarre dream.

And then it was gone again.

Leaving only Goten.

AN: Short, I know, but I really wanted to add something to this story. I really don't know how far I'm going to go with this story. It's probably going to end up being like "Pure of Heart" and "Confessions." I'll add to it as I think of things to put into it. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.


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